The mash will take care of itself.
Strips indicate a pH that is about 0.2 to 0.3 units lower than actual, so you need to be looking for a pH that is a couple of tenths higher than the typical range of 5.3 to 5.5. So, if you read 5.5 to 5.7 with the plastic strips, you are probably in a good range.
It matters bc a meter shows a different pH at mash temp (about 0.2 lower) while the strips have the same color reaction at mash and room temp.
-Kai
That might be true if the water and mash are suited to each other. But it doesn't take much of a mismatch to create a mash condition that doesn't produce the best beer or the beer you're looking for.
There is no single water that can produce stellar beers of all styles. A water is more typically suited for a certain range of styles and the brewer will have the opportunity to make stellar beers with that water. But outside that style range, its going to take some corrections to make it possible to make great beer.
Strips or a meter can be very good tools for figuring out why a beer does or doesn't come out right. I do agree that once a brewer understands what they have to do to their water for certain beer styles, that they can toss the strips or meter and brew with confidence.
Bru'n Water was created to help brewers without strips or a meter to get in the ballpark with their mash chemistry. But, I'm still going to recommend those tools to double check the program result for the user. Don't toss the strips yet!
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